Wakeboard Boat Wake vs. Other Boat's Wake

ocboarder · Newbie Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Posts: 5

Hi Everyone,

Me and my buddies have only been wakeboarding for a couple of months. We excel pretty quickly at sports, since we do a lot of them. I've been surfing all of my life and snowboarding for for many years. We are picking up the sport pretty quickly; however, I have started to wonder about the difference between wakeboarding boats and other boats.

For example: My friends and I are using their boat, which is a late 90's 18.5 ft. inboard/outboard. They have put a tower on it, and they're getting fat sacks, but I'm wondering about how significant the difference in the wake size will be on our ability to do tricks.

In other words, do wakeboarding boats (with direct drive) really make that much larger of a wake? From what I've seen, it appears as though they do; however, I'd like to know if we will still be able to pull back-flips, front-flips, and 540/720's on smaller wake? I understand that much of this is based on our personal abilities, but I would like to hear from people who have ridden on both types of boats to understand the real difference.

Thank you all for your help.

All the best....OCBoarder...

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

Yes, they make bigger wakes. And more importantly, they make more SOLID wakes.

Good luck with the 720's though. Laughing

SouthWaker · Posted: Apr 10, 2007 7:42 am Post subject:

As far as inboards go, many v-drives have a d-drive configuration of the same hull. If you adjust the weight the same with the factor that the motor is in a different location you will get the same shaped wake. It just so happens most of your wakeboats are v-drive now because they are roomier inside. I/O's are put down in the world or wakeboarding because their wakes and speed are hard to keep as consistent compared to an inboard. Not some much because of their wake size. The boat you are riding behind is a smaller boat that probably won’t have much draft nor will it be as heavy as some of the inboards the guys on this site ride behind. In other words the wake will not be monstrous by any means. Fat sacs should help, but with an 18 foot boat, and the factor it probably has a 6-cylender in it, it can only plane with so much weight. However, you said yourself you guys have not been boarding but for a few months and what are you really going to do if I said "there is no way you will every progress behind that boat!" which isn't the case. Fact is most of your basic tricks were invented behind an unweighted slalom boat with a wake probably a lot smaller than yours will be. Hang time is just as much about progressive edging as it is wake size. So get out there and rip it up and get your fundamentals down pat.

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

Depending on the i/o you can make a decent wake. The trouble is it is harder to get dialed in and speed control is difficult. These are important in setting up your sporting environment. With that said you can land backflips, frontflips, and 540s on a decent i/o wake but it will be much harder to do. Once you get to the point where you're ready to start trying inverts and spins of more than 360 you'll be itching to ride behind an inboard that can provide you with consistency.

bmartin · Addict Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 794

Most of us started behind and I/O and many can throw a good wake. A good rider will be able to throw the basic inverts and 3s and 5s behind one set up right, but on average an I/O will not take you to the heights of most wake specific boats. There is a post on the front page of this forum on improving I/Os that will offer lots of insights on how to get the most out of it for wakeboarding.

ocboarder · Newbie Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Posts: 5

Wow, that's some great information. I really appreciate all of your input and help.

We will do our best on this boat, and try to get our technique down "pat". I think this will be a good "learner" boat for us. We are planning to get a wakeboarding boat in about 1&1/2 - 2 years. I'm sure that the practice on the smaller wake will get us more acclimated to relying on our skill, not just the bigger wake. Then once we upgrade the boat, we should be able to do quite a bit more.

Thank you again for your input. I'll check out the post on improving I/O wake, so that we can get our 3s and 5s down.